I was reminded earlier today of a couple of people I have run across in the poker industry in my travels.  I will not name any names or even state where they work due to respecting their privacy.  However, what I will tell you is that they are both holdovers from “Old School Vegas.”  As such, both can really give you some unique stories about the “good old days” in Vegas.  One such story reminds me of just how much this game has changed when it comes to handling abusive players.

The Wild West of Poker’s Past

Back in the late 70’s, a particular mobster owned or had pieces of several Vegas casinos.  One of the “Vegas holdovers” I mentioned earlier happened to be playing in one of the games.  He was a regular in the casino and never really caused any trouble and was well liked by the staff.  Well in this one poker game, a particular gentleman was being belligerent at the table and was assumed drunk.  He decided to start taking shots at a my friend and this continued for quite a while.

Finally, a well dressed man walks up to this player and very sternly tells him “If you don’t leave my friend alone, we are going to have problems.”  The man in the suit walks away.  The drunk guy gets out of his chair and starts hollering “Who the fuck are you?  You don’t talk to me like that.”  Someone then whispers something into the man’s ear and suddenly he looks like he saw a ghost.  He then sat back down and played exactly two hands before picking up his chips and leaving the casino.

My friend told me was needled for quite a while afterwards and people started calling the mobster “his bodyguard.”  The funny thing was that my friend didn’t know the guy.  He know who he was, but he didn’t have any type of a relationship with him.  As far as the guy that was causing the problems, he was never seen from again.  Some thing he got out of town, but my friend speculated that he might have gotten out of town in a body bag.

Today, the above player may have been kicked out of the casino or suspended for a time, but that is all.  Players today are lucky that the game has changed, especially these players that decide that it is a “great tool” to be an ass to others.

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